Victory 4×4 Off-Road Full-Length Roof Rack + Durable Crossbar Functionality: Review For the 5th Gen 4Runner
I was reluctant to put a roof rack on my 5th Gen 4Runner at first, but after my first wheeling/camping trip in the 4Runner, it was necessary.
I had a Prinsu rack on 2 of my previous Tacomas and while the rack served its purpose, I was completely unhappy with the Prinsu rack.
There were powder coat issues, hardware problems, and the noise was terrible. These issues steered me away from Prinsu roof rack for the 4Runner, so the search for a quality rack began.
I read numerous reviews, along with complete guide articles out there and the designs and cost of many of the racks just didn’t suit me.
I had been eyeing the Victory 4×4 full-length roof rack for several months after I took delivery of the 4Runner.
I finally pulled the trigger… And in about 15 days I got the tracking info for the rack.
Who is Victory 4×4?
Victory 4×4 has been making their way into the Toyota Overlanding community for some time now. Their background with another company was in building off-road rock crawling Jeep parts and now with the Victory 4×4, they are focused on Toyota.
Most of their parts when they started were for the Tacoma and recently, they have been getting into Tundra and 4Runner applications. Recently they launched their 5th Gen 4Runner low profile bumper and it has made its way into the hands of many owners.
Unboxing the rack revealed:
- Where to buy: Check Today’s Price
- 2 Side Rails
- Roof Mounting Brackets
- Crossbars
- Installation Hardware
All wrapped for shipping protection and once all opened up, I found nothing had been damaged during the shipping process. Assembly (which I failed to take pictures of) took about 45 minutes and I employed the assistance of my wife to get it on top of the 4Runner.
At first glance, the rack looked great, even though it was just sitting up there with nothing mounted.
Durable Crossbars For Max Weight Capacity
Everything lined up perfect and the supplied hardware worked like it should (unlike the hardware I received from Prinsu).
The crossbars really add to the rigidity of the rack.
I’m 230 pounds and was able to stand on top of the rack without it bowing or showing any signs of stress.
Built-In Noise-Reducing Wind Deflector
I got the wind deflector with the light bar cutout and Victory sends light bar mounting brackets with the rack which is awesome.
The wind noise from this rack is far less than both Prinsu racks I’ve owned and it looks great on top of the 4Runner.
So far, I only have one permanently mounted item which is a 36” Plano all-weather rifle case which I use to hold tools and recovery items. I have not noticed any degradation in fuel economy after 4K miles with the rack installed.
No-Drill, Easy Install Quality Roof Rack
Anyone looking for a quality rack that looks great and has endless functionalities, I highly recommend the Victory rack.
Simple assembly, easy install, and plenty of accessory mounting options available from Victory.
Just a heads up for anyone that has a 2020 TRDP. When you go to remove your factory rack. DO NOT REMOVE THE BOLTS ONE AT A TIME! I installed this rack a couple days ago and half of the hardware that secures the rack to the roof fell into the space between the roof and headliner. To get the headliner to drop you have to start by removing the floor first, then work your way up. That being said I love this rack. Being able to still utilize the moon roof is a huge plus as well.
So how do you remove it ?
On every corner, loosen each bolt a little at a time until they’re both out.
Thank you
I’m looking at the 3/4 rack. But I have a Yakima surfboard rack I want to mount on this. What is the clearance between the roof and the bottom of the crossbar on the outside of the rack?
Thanks
Hi there! My question is I see you have a bOx mount on top of your victory 4×4 I have the same but I can’t find anything online on what exact bolts I need that can slide in the C channels of the rack.
Thank you
Same here! I’m having issues finding the right bolt size. Even have checked hardware stores. Anyone have any details? Thanks!
I’m looking between the prinsu and victory full length roof rack and came across your article. I’m pretty much sold on the victory rack after reading this. I do have one question though..I have a 2019 trd pro 4runner and currently have the gobi ladder that is made to work with the pro ( fj) looking roof rack. Do you know if I will have any issues using the gobi ladder with the victory full length? Prinsu users say there is no issues since they can move and adjust the last cross bar. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.
Did those light bar mounts come with it? I bought a rack from them and they gave me a set of cheap stainless ones that don’t put the light bar above the wind deflector.
Hey gang. Do you know what Series 80/20 is used for this?
Good afternoon Brian, thank you for the video. Have you tried putting a roof tent with this rack and have you installed a ladder to it?
Thank You for your time
Felix
No tent. I sleep in the truck. No ladder. I can reach everything by standing on the sliders.
No tent. I sleep in the 4Runner. No need for a ladder either. I can access everything on the rack by standing on the sliders or rear tires.
What are you using for a ladder?
No ladder required. I can reach everything by stepping up on the sliders or rear tires.
I just recently bought a 2019 4runner and have been banging my head trying to decide on the best roof rack! I’ve looked into Prinsu, Rhino rack and many others, I also came across this Victory 4×4 rack, looks real nice on a 4runner. The problem I’m having is I don’t really overland, but do get on some rough roads and do road trips and camping, every time I look at these type of racks guys are usually hauling recovery stuff roof tents, what I want to know is does anybody just strap down cargo bags or cooler, storage boxes, general camping gear and stuff like that, these racks are good for just about anything right?
Ryan – I just bought and installed mine, I am having second thoughts – if you are interested still hit me up.
Second thoughts are purely cosmetic for me.
Bobby, are you wanting to sell your Victory Roof rack?
I have the Rhino Pioneer Backbone system. I use it to carry camping, rock climbing gear, strollers, cooler, and anything else. No tent. Its great because its a flat rack and has wide support planks. Its also composite and aluminum so it will hold up well.
Just installed this rack last weekend. Taking it on a 2 week road trip up to Oregon from Texas. I’ll have to report back on how I like it. I’m happy to see there’s finally a write up on this rack though, I was able to read quite a few forums on it before I splurged on it.
This looks great. I wish I would have seen their stuff earlier. It looks like they have pretty high quality material and so far positive reviews from what I’ve seen. I just installed southern style off-road rack and from what I can tell The victory looks very similar in construction. I’m very interested in seeing other products get reviewed by these guys as well. Their prices seem very competitive and their lead times are pretty short compared to some of the other places.
I’m surprised you still haven’t taken a look at or brought to everyone’s attention, the Rago Fabrication Modular Factory Rail Support System. From what I can tell, it will hold anything the other racks do, doesn’t add any extra height to the roof of the vehicle and is a better deal ($599). Just a thought. 🙂
Colin, someone did a review a while back on the LFD Off-Road Rack. Same concept. If you are up for it, throw a review together.
Cool. Thanks for the heads up.
Looks like Victory just made their own crossbars that work with the factory rack.
https://www.victory4x4.com/product/V4RRK-CS.html
I bought 2 of these. Not impressed, in addition to taking twice as long as they had said to be made none of the pre drilled holes seem to line up with any brackets. I tried multiple common brackets for my ARB awning, including the ARB brackets, and nothing lined up with their crossbars. I ended up having to drill the ARB brackets.
Can you provide more pictures of how the light-bar works with this? Which light bar are you using?
It’s pretty self-explanatory. I don’t know what else I could show you. The light bar is one I got on amazon because I refuse to spend large amounts of money on lights. Refer to my article on spending on parts and where to spend big.
I also have this rack. Overall I am very please with the rack. I would like to point out a few additional observations:
1. The slots for the cross bars are about 1/2″ short of being able to mount a second crossbar in the same slot and get 4 screws in. You can get 2 screws in the second crossbar though. I wanted to double up on crossbars so I would not have a crossbar right over my sunroof, but still have the bar mounted on the truck so it was always available when needed. I have passed this on to Victory. Maybe it will be a change in Gen 2.
2. The front feet have rubber pads and sit on the body portion of the body and not the “drip” rail as other racks. This will lead to scratching overtime I am sure. Wish the feet were over the drip rail.
3. The length of the mounts require you to shorten the OEM rubber piece that sits in the “drip” rail by cutting it. Not a big deal unless you ever plan to reinstall the OEM rack in the future. Then you would need to buy two new rubber pieces. These are cosmetic only and do not provide any kind of sealing whatsoever.
4. The crossbars are standard 1″x2″, series 10 80/20. For those that do not know, 80/20 is a real life erector set that is used for frames in MANY applications, particularly industrial machinery. Lots of mounts and accessories. Options can be endless to mods to this type of rack and crossbars. Info and parts on 8020.net.
Thank you for the write up. Seriously considering replacing my Rhino Pioneer Backbone with this.
Question. Any creaking noise after you have been using it? I noticed on the Victory site it looks like they are using anti-seize on the ends of the aluminum rails.
No creaking at all.
Snow Yeti,
We are using anti-seize because you are combining two different metals. Stainless bolts into aluminum rails. This is to keep the stainless bolts from seizing into the cross bars.